• Introduction
• Acknowledgement of sources
• Copyright
• Plagiarism
• Quoting
• Paraphrasing
• References
• Bibliography
• Summary

Paraphrasing

What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is repeating in your own words what someone else has said or written. The paraphrase must always be formulated in such a way as to reflect the intent of the original text. See also Quoting. You must make it clear which ideas are your own, which ideas are those of others and on which text the paraphrase is based: the Acknowledgement of sources.

In the text, make a brief reference to the author’s name and year of publication. Unlike quoting, it is not essential to give the page number when paraphrasing. You may, however, choose to do so anyway.

The full acknowledgement of the source must be listed in the bibliography at the end of your report. See also Bibliography.

Examples (APA style):

Jansen (2004) states that student satisfaction increases if the library operates on Sundays.

According to Jansen (2004), student satisfaction increases if the library operates on Sundays.

Student satisfaction would increase if libraries operate on Sundays (Jansen, 2004).

When to paraphrase?

You can choose to paraphrase, for example:

• If the original text is too long or too complicated for your readers. In this case, give a simplified reproduction of the text.
• If the original text is written in different language. In this case, give a translation of the text.